Engaging with Armed Groups to Enhance Their Respect of Humanitarian Norms: Mission Impossible?

Ezequiel Heffes is a Thematic Legal Adviser for Geneva Call, a humanitarian NGO that is dedicated to promoting respect by non-state armed groups for international humanitarian norms in armed conflict and other situations of violence. In this public lecture, Ezequiel will speak about his experiences of engaging a variety of non-state armed groups in humanitarian dialogue, the successes of such work, as well as the challenges.  

Ezequiel holds an LL.M. in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights from the Geneva Academy of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, and a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires School of Law. Prior to joining Geneva Call, he worked as a field and protection delegate and as head of office for the ICRC in Colombia, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He participated in research projects and has published various articles and book chapters on armed non-State actors, including in the International Review of the Red Cross and the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law. He is currently co-editing International Humanitarian Law and Non-State Actors: Debates, Law and Policy (Forthcoming, T.M.C. Asser Press).